Grind is My Ninja Way

After observing for a while, Kanda Otsuru put down the monocular in his hand.

After thinking for a moment, he bit his thumb, letting the blood drip.

Then, he clasped his hands together and quickly formed the five seals 'Boar - Dog - Bird - Monkey - Sheep', performing the 'Summoning Technique'.

Poof~

A cloud of Chakra smoke exploded.

A slender crane appeared on the scene.

Kanda Otsuru didn't waste any time, immediately took out paper and pen, wrote a secret letter, and stuffed it into the message tube on the crane's leg.

Then, he patted its back and said: "Tsuruyama, immediately deliver this letter to the forward base."

Screech~

Hearing this, the crane named Tsuruyama let out a long cry.

Then, it nodded, flapped its wings, and its body shot up into the sky like an arrow, disappearing into the horizon.

Watching its departing figure, Kanda Otsuru breathed a slight sigh of relief.

After doing this, he said to Quartz and the other Konoha ninjas who had arrived later: "Reinforcements from the base will arrive soon."

"Next, everyone, pay close attention to the enemy's movements and make sure they are always under our surveillance."

"Yes, Captain!"

Several Konoha ninjas responded in affirmation.

Then, they went about their own tasks.

······

A few minutes later.

Inside the forward base.

A piercing alarm suddenly sounded.

In the room, Seimei's shadow clone abruptly opened its eyes, sensing something was wrong.

Soon, a messenger Chunin found him and asked him to rush to the meeting room immediately.

The shadow clone didn't dare to delay and immediately rushed to the meeting room.

Not only him, but all the Jonin in the base quickly gathered there.

The ninja presiding over the meeting was a Uchiha Jonin. Without any nonsense, he conveyed the news of the impending Kiri-nin attack to everyone at the fastest speed.

Then, without discussing with everyone, he directly started assigning tasks.

And as soon as he opened his mouth, he called out Seimei's name.

"Seimei?"

"Present!"

Hearing this, the shadow clone immediately stood up.

Then, the Uchiha Jonin said: "You immediately lead the first and second squads and head to Watchtower No. 3 at the fastest speed. These are the mission requirements."

As he spoke, he tossed a scroll to him.

The shadow clone immediately caught it, opened it, quickly scanned through it, and breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Then, he closed the scroll and replied: "Yes, Captain!"

"Mm."

The Uchiha Jonin nodded and said: "Alright, go and prepare!"

"Yes."

Seimei responded one last time and hurriedly left the meeting room.

In the meeting room, the Uchiha Jonin's voice continued.

Jonin were continuously assigned tasks and then walked out, their faces showing either joy or seriousness, varying from person to person.

However, these had little to do with Seimei anymore.

Because he had already set off with the first and second squads.

The so-called Watchtower No. 3 was actually the reef watchtower where Kanda Otsuru was stationed, and it was also the closest watchtower to the Kiri-nin warships.

The Uchiha Jonin assigning him there, and even giving him the most elite first and second squads, showed his recognition of Seimei's strength.

However, the shadow clone didn't want this kind of recognition at all.

After all, he wasn't the main body and didn't have that level of strength.

But in the meeting room, he couldn't say it explicitly, so he could only bite the bullet and accept it.

Fortunately, his mission wasn't to directly confront Kirigakure's assault force.

The Uchiha Jonin gave him two mission requirements.

First, if the Kiri-nin discovered Watchtower No. 3 and launched an attack, their task was to stall them, buying at least ten minutes of defense time for the base.

Second, if the Kiri-nin didn't discover them, or if they did but ignored them, their task was to wait until the Kiri-nin engaged the base and then launch a surprise attack from the rear, thus flanking the enemy together with the base.

And according to the intelligence sent back by Kanda Otsuru, the course of Kirigakure's four warships clearly indicated a direct assault on the forward base.

In other words, the possibility of them needing to stall for time was relatively small.

And this provided more room for maneuver.

As the saying goes, one should only take on tasks they can handle.

Although he didn't have much emotional attachment to the ninjas under his command, he wouldn't deliberately lead them to their deaths.

It was precisely because there was room for flexibility that he accepted this mission.

Otherwise, even if it would arouse some suspicion, he wouldn't have taken on this mission so readily.

Besides this, there was another reason why he accepted this mission: based on his calculations, the main body should be almost back.

As long as the war didn't end quickly and lasted for a bit longer, he should be able to wait for the main body to return.

At that time, even if there were any problems, the main body could handle and resolve them.

······

Twenty minutes passed in a flash.

Seimei, leading two squads, a total of thirty-five people, arrived at the reef watchtower and met Kanda Otsuru.

And as soon as the other party saw him, he became excited.

After all, Seimei's reputation as the Ghost Sword had gradually spread in recent days.

Although there had been no opportunities for him to showcase his strength due to Kirigakure's strategy of lying low these days, the news of him encountering an ambush by Kirigakure's elite forces on his way to provide support and counter-killing several of their Jonin had already spread.

Especially since there were two members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist among them, this made everyone admire him even more.

Of course, the reason this news spread so quickly was also because the Uchiha clan was building momentum for him.

As a prominent clan in Konoha, the Uchiha clan needed reputation.

Coincidentally, Seimei's actions fit the current needs, so the Uchiha clan naturally didn't hesitate to invest corresponding resources.

Seimei also knew a bit about these things but didn't pay much attention to them.

Reputation could sometimes be a burden, but if used well, it could also be a sharp weapon, saving him a lot of trouble.

For example, when Kanda Otsuru saw him, he immediately regarded him as the backbone, and the handover of command was seamless.

As for being targeted by ninjas from other countries because of this...

With his current strength and achievements, wouldn't the enemies target him even if he didn't promote himself?

That was a joke!

Not only would they not relax their targeting, but they might even intensify it.

After all, suppressing the geniuses of other ninja villages was a consensus among the Five Great Ninja Villages.

War wasn't just about fighting on the frontal battlefield; there were also schemes and plots in the shadows.

If they could make the opposing ninja village lack successors, even if they lost this war, they would have a chance to strike back in the next one.

Therefore, to some extent, this kind of thing was as important as fighting on the frontal battlefield.

In this way, hoping that being low-key would make the enemies let you off was simply wishful thinking.

Moreover, he was already famous, so he couldn't keep a low profile anymore.

That was also why he didn't stop the Uchiha clan's publicity efforts.

Under these circumstances, only by becoming stronger could he withstand the repeated probes and targeting from the outside world.

The only fortunate thing was that he had already quietly awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan when he was still unknown, possessing the ability to turn the tables.

In this way, he didn't care about a bit of fame.

Various thoughts flashed through his mind, and Seimei turned his gaze to Kanda Otsuru in front of him.

(End of Chapter)